The field of the present invention relates to devices for ejecting or spraying a fluid stream or spray through a nozzle from out of a container or bottle.
Heretofore there have been various hand-held sprayers such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,290 in which fluid from a container is pumped out by a pump mechanism comprised of a collapsible tubular bulb, the actuation of the trigger compressing the bulb to expel the fluid. Another type of trigger sprayer device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,228 in which the trigger actuates the piston and cylinder combination which alternately draws fluid in from the container and then expels it out through a nozzle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,355,739 (Vierkotter) and 3,786,963 (Metzler) disclose hand pump devices which claim to disperse a mixture of two fluids from two fluid sources. These devices however require the two fluids to be mixed far from the pumping chamber which provides opportunity for the fluids to separate rather than staying mixed. In the application where the device varies the fluid concentration and a new concentration is selected, a large amount of fluid must be first expelled before fluid of the new concentration is expelled. In an application where the fluid is activated by mixing action, mixed fluid which is not expelled may become inactive in time.
The present inventor however is aware of no successful handheld device on the market, other than his own, which can reliably draw a plurality of fluids from a plurality of fluid sources and eject the fluid mixture at a desired concentration. The vast majority of all trigger-type sprayer devices are sprayers which draw fluid from a single container, the sprayer ejecting only that particular fluid and fluid concentration which is within the container.